Q: My husband is an excellent cook. His appetizers are really good, and he has published a cook book with great recipes. We heard he could now sell some of these items to the public, even though cooked from our kitchen. Is there a new law?

-M.N., Long Beach

Ron Sokol

A: Gov. Brown recently signed a bill that legalizes small-scale home cooking operations. You have to obtain a permit, meet health and safety standards, and keep annual gross sales below $50,000. In addition, there can be no more than one full-time equivalent food employee, not including a family member or household member. Note that the food has to be prepared, cooked and served on the same day. Also, the food must be consumed on site, or delivered within a safe time period.

In 2012, the California Homemade Food Act became law, which permitted home cooks to sell jams, pickles and other foods with low risk of food-borne illness. This new law is part of a growing effort across the country to permit small-scale home-based food enterprises.

Q: The number of craft breweries in and around the South Bay is impressive. Recently a friend of ours told us he is very happy about the “Craft Distiller Op-pour-tunity Act.” I didn’t quite follow what he said — can you tell me if there really is such a thing?

-G.B., Torrance

A: Yes, that is the nickname of California Senate Bill 1164, recently signed by Brown. It changes the current regulations to provide craft distillers with greater leeway to sell as well as offer samples of their products.

Under the prior law, distilleries could only sell craft liquors if they had a tasting room, and then only after persons actually participated in a tasting. The upshot was that if you were a craft brewing facility without a tasting room, you could not directly sell your product; you had to rely on a distributor to do so.

The tasting room requirement is now eliminated, as is the prerequisite of a tasting beforehand. And, the volume that craft distillers are allowed to produce each year has been increased from 100,000 to 150,000 gallons. All of which led (and leads to) the nick name “Op-pour-tunity Act”.

Sidewalk Vendors

Along with the laws referenced above, sidewalk vending has now been decriminalized. The local government has oversight to inspect, permit and limit vending carts, but that has to be done to in keeping with criteria focused upon health, safety and welfare concerns.

Criminal charges pending under any local ordinance or resolution regulating or prohibiting sidewalk vendors are to be dismissed, and those serving a sentence for a misdemeanor or infraction for sidewalk vending can petition to have the sentence, fine or conviction dismissed.

Ron Sokol is a Manhattan Beach attorney with more than 35 years of experience. His column, which appears on Wednesdays, presents a summary of the law and should not be construed as legal advice. Email questions and comments to him at RonSEsq@aol.com or write to him at Ask the Lawyer, Daily Breeze, 21250 Hawthorne Blvd., Suite 170, Torrance, CA 90503.